


Terms and Conditions

by last_system_lord



Series: Enemy Amongst Us [3]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Gen, Post-Continuum
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-07
Updated: 2015-04-07
Packaged: 2018-03-21 16:30:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3699197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/last_system_lord/pseuds/last_system_lord
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam decided that if she was going to keep an eye on Ba'al, then she needed to know where he lived.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Terms and Conditions

One flash of her ID at the receptionist and Sam was in the computer system. The mechanics employee register was pretty simple, basic info only and Sam was most the way scrolling through names before she realised that he would hardly be on the system as Ba’al.

Furthermore, they had more than one active mechanic and no pictures in the register.

‘Damn,’ said Sam, sitting back from the computer, defeated.

‘What?’ asked the receptionist anxiously.

Sam looked up and briefly felt sorry for the guy. It wasn’t often that Air Force colonels barged it demanding answers as a matter of national security and, on reflection, she figured there had been better ways of doing it. 

On the other hand, if the experience was already spooking him…

‘I’m leaving now,’ Sam told him in her sternest voice. ‘You will act as if I was never here.’

She walked out, straight backed, without another word and hoped to hell that had worked. Hopefully they were far enough away from Cheyenne Mountain that word wouldn’t get back even if the guy did talk, or, more likely, everyone would think he was making it up.

As for Ba'al, she just needed to try a different approach.

_____________________

It was a week before Sam was able to head back, but this time she actually caught a glimpse of Ba’al in the workshop. Perfect.

Sam parked her car just around the corner and settled down for a long wait. Ba’al, of course, knew what her car looked like and was more than likely to spot her following him, but Sam didn’t really care about that.

If she was going to keep an eye on him – which was far less than she should be doing – then she needed to know where he lived.

As it happened, Sam nearly missed him. Ba’al shot out of the parking lot on a motorbike and she cursed, starting the engine and going after him. It was a struggle to keep up with the bike and Sam found herself wishing she’d brought her own, although she knew she would have looked pretty obvious sat next to a motorbike all day.

‘Come _on_.’ Sam squinted at the traffic ahead of her, waiting for the lights to change, she could just see Ba’al, at the front of the queue. Or at least, she hoped it was Ba’al. It would really screw up the hours of waiting if she’d accidently started following the wrong bike.

______________________

She could feel him as she approached the apartment block and was relieved. Carefully, Sam let herself in.

A hand snaked around her waist, pulling her to the side and Sam reacted, sharply bringing up her elbow and quickly twisting away as her attempted attack met only empty air.

Ba’al chuckled softly.

‘What the hell are you doing?’ demanded Sam angrily, partly to cover up for the pounding of her heart.

Ba’al had backed off a bit and Sam’s eyesight had adjusted to the gloom of the foyer. She took in the motorbike helmet and casual mechanics attire and decided it just didn’t fit with her image of him. But then, it probably didn’t fit with his image of himself either; no ridiculous collared coats for starters.

‘You were following me,’ Ba’al pointed out with a sly look in his eyes. ‘I thought I could escort you the rest of the way up to my apartment. Number 12, if you were wondering.’

_I’m not hiding from you_ , Sam heard, underneath Ba’al’s amusement. ‘Number 12, got it. Now I know where to direct the NID.’

That earned her another low laugh. ‘Careful, I may need to take you as a hostage.’

‘Right,’ said Sam. ‘Because _that_ would help.’ She started to back off out the door. It was one thing to be in a café with him, quite another to be here alone. ‘Remember, one foot out of line…’

‘But where have you drawn that line?’

Sam stared at him incredulously. ‘I think you’re probably smart enough to figure that out, don’t you?’

‘You Tau’ri have such ridiculous rules, it is hard to be sure.’ Ba’al sighed and started ticking things off on his fingers. ‘No cloning, no explosions of any description, no attempting to conquer your planet… hmm… and presumably no escaping from your planet. Does that cover it?’

‘No.’ Sam gave him a hard stare. ‘No using, or even having, any alien technology of any sort. Speaking of which… I need that Sodan cloak.’

‘I do not have a Sodan cloak.’

‘Yes, you do. Hand it over.’

‘I cannot hand over something I don’t have.’ Ba’al folded his arms.

‘Ba’al…’ Sam rubbed her temples.

‘Theoretically,’ said Ba’al, mischief written all over his face. ‘If you were to bring a Sodan cloak to your SGC, how would you explain it?’

Damn. He had her there. The naquadah had been one thing, they already had a store and Sam had just slipped it in unnoticed; no doubt the discrepancy would eventually be noticed and put down to bad administration. A Sodan cloak however…

‘Just give it to me.’

‘I also cannot hand over a theoretical Sodan cloak.’

Ba’al, Sam remembered, could be exceptionally stubborn.

She held out a hand. ‘I know you have it. Give it to me, seriously. How I explain it is not your problem.’

‘On the contrary. The sudden appearance of it would alert even the most stupid of your friends.’

Sam closed her eyes and tried not to concede that he had a point. Oh well, she didn’t _have_ to take it to the SGC. Getting angry wouldn’t help, he would just dig in his heals and they’d get nowhere, but she really couldn’t let him keep it. ‘Ba’al, give me the damn Sodan cloak or I’ll have to tell them about _you_ and that _would_ take some explaining.’

Ba’al studied her for a moment and then raised his eyebrows. ‘I don’t have it on me.’

Sam gritted her teeth. ‘We are _at_ your apartment; go up there and get it.’

The answering grin was worrying, to say the least. ‘Come up and get it.’

He was heading up the stairs almost before Sam could blink and, damn it, she couldn’t go yelling classified information up a staircase. Reluctantly, checking her sidearm was within easy reach, Sam followed him up the stairs and to his apartment.

‘Where is it?’ She hovered just outside the doorway, keeping one foot wedging the door open.

Ba’al strolled off casually, looking perfectly at ease in the somewhat small and surprising sparsely decorated apartment. Sam reflected that the reality of Ba’al, ever since she’d met him on Dakara, never quite matched the sheer brutality that his reputation suggested. If anything, that made him far more dangerous.

‘If you truly must have it…’ Ba’al trailed off and Sam stared in surprise because he really did seem to be holding out the elusive Sodan cloak.

Sam snatched it off him, quickly enough that he looked at her quizzically.

‘Thank you,’ said Sam, trying to inject as much sarcasm into the words as possible.

‘You’re welcome.’ Ba’al smiled, appearing perfectly genuine. If Sam hadn’t seen him actually _being_ genuine on Dakara then she might have bought it, but as she had… well. Ba’al clearly wasn’t pleased to hand it over. His next words confirmed her concern. ‘Consider it a gift.’

Daniel’s mission report from so long ago sprang into the front of her mind; _Do not accept gifts from Ba’al_. Sam carefully held the cloak a little further away from her body and wondered if he’d had time to reprogram it, she resolved to test it thoroughly.

Ba’al had noticed her sudden hesitation. ‘If you don’t want it after all…’

Sam jerked it away from his outstretched hand. ‘And this is _all_ the alien technology you have?’

It was maybe a pointless question, but Sam had felt the need to ask it all the same.

‘Absolutely. Although you could always come in and search for yourself.’ Ba’al made a sweeping welcoming gesture and stood to one side

‘Uh, no, thanks,’ said Sam, with a small shake of her head. His willingness to invite her in made her wary and she’d already managed to recover the Sodan cloak, if he had other technology, he wouldn't let her find it.

Ba’al seemed to take the refusal fairly well. ‘In that case, Samantha, I will see you around.’

His mischievous smile did not put her at ease.

 


End file.
